A method and an arrangement for monitoring the activation and deactivation of a controllable power semiconductor component in a power electronic circuit are known from DE 43 01 605 C1. Control signals for the power semiconductor component are fed in an electrically isolated manner to a gate electrode. With a control signal for activating the power semiconductor component, counting signals are formed from level changes in the signal applied to the gate electrode and the level changes on an output electrode in the event of switchover of the power semiconductor component. The counting signals are summed and compared with a predefined counting value assigned to the fault-free mode of operation of the power semiconductor component. A fault is signaled in the event of a difference between the sum of the counting signals and the predefined counting value.